Saviano High Performance Tennis

Saviano High Performance Tennis at a glance

Saviano High Performance Tennis is a focused, founder-led academy in Davie, Florida, built around the coaching philosophy of Nick Saviano. Parents often recognize his name from a long coaching career that spans junior development and the professional tour. The academy operates on the David Posnack Jewish Community Center campus, which gives players a compact high performance tennis environment inside a broader community sports complex that supports daily training, recovery, and year-round consistency.

Nick Saviano’s approach is often summarized as technical clarity, tactical intelligence, and character development. That triad shows up in the way courts are organized, how video is used to audit progress, and how staff speak a shared language across warmup, drills, point play, and post-session review. The result is a program that feels deliberate and highly personal, with the founder visible on court and engaged in daily planning.

Founding story and philosophy

Nick Saviano’s path from top junior and Stanford All-American to ATP professional, to a leadership role within USTA Player Development, shaped the academy’s playbook. His years coaching and educating other coaches led him to codify what many in South Florida now call the Saviano Method. The method emphasizes building sound technique that holds under pressure, decision quality during points, and an internal standard for work and accountability. Rather than chasing trends, the staff teach players how to identify their game identity, make repeatable choices, and sustain effort in Florida’s heat.

Families who tour the program often comment on the clarity. Players know what they are working on, why it matters, and how progress will be measured. Video is not a gimmick but a routine tool. Match play is not a free-for-all but a platform to apply specific patterns and mental routines. These details give the place a sense of purpose and a calm, professional tone.

Why Davie, Florida matters

South Florida is one of the most active tennis ecosystems in the United States. Davie sits in the middle of it, with tournament options most weekends across Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. The climate allows year-round outdoor training, and the reliable heat and humidity create a useful lab for building physical resilience, hydration habits, and concentration skills that translate to long matches.

The location also simplifies travel. Families can reach two major airports in reasonable time for tournament swings or college visits. Within Florida, the academy sits in a triangle of established training hubs that includes the USTA National Campus in Orlando and Boca Raton’s Evert Tennis Academy, with larger setups such as IMG Academy Tennis on the Gulf Coast. That proximity helps with sparring options, evaluations, and a steady calendar of competitive opportunities.

Facilities and daily training base

The academy trains on eight outdoor courts at the community center campus, split between four Har-Tru clay courts and four hard courts, all under lights. The community center footprint brings meaningful extras: a full fitness center, indoor track, indoor basketball courts, racquetball courts, a swimming pool, and turf space for movement work and conditioning. The setting is secure and monitored, a detail parents notice when their athletes are on site for long blocks of the day.

While the campus is comprehensive, it is not a self-contained boarding school. That design choice has advantages. Families gain the breadth of a community center’s amenities without paying for a sprawling tennis-only complex. Players learn to move between court, gym, classroom, and pool in a realistic daily loop that resembles college athletics. For visiting players, the academy coordinates vetted host families for longer stays and can suggest hotel partners for short visits.

Lighting and surface variety let the staff plan clay and hard court blocks in the same week. A player might spend Monday through Wednesday on clay for movement and point construction, then shift to hard courts Thursday and Friday to sharpen first-strike patterns and serve-plus-one. Because the courts sit steps from the gym and pool, recovery and strength work can be sequenced with minimal downtime.

Coaching staff and on-court identity

Saviano is on court most days, which gives the program a clear identity. He mentors a staff with high level playing and coaching backgrounds, including coaches such as John Sherwood, Junior Ore, Daniel Ventura, and Sergio Lizarraga. The common thread is not a single drill template but a shared language that ties technique, tactics, and mindset together from the first dynamic warmup to the last competitive set.

The academy advertises small training ratios, commonly four players to one coach during core sessions. That ratio allows coaches to track individual themes on court, then use video to lock in key cues. The vibe is direct and supportive. Players leave sessions with specific notes rather than vague encouragement, and the next day’s plan references those notes. Over time that loop builds trust and speeds up learning.

Programs and calendar

Saviano High Performance Tennis structures its offerings so that visiting players can integrate with the full time group rather than being siloed in separate camps. The goal is to maintain standards while giving short stay athletes a realistic window into daily operations.

Full Time Development Program

The full time pathway is designed for juniors who commit to intensive training during the school year. Sessions typically run Monday through Friday on a nine month calendar with options to add weekend match play. The curriculum covers technical fundamentals, footwork and court positioning, pattern development on clay and hard courts, tactical decision making, and a dedicated mental conditioning strand. Transportation is available to and from select partner schools, which helps families balance academics with morning and afternoon training blocks.

Assessment is part of entry. Coaches evaluate movement, stroke fundamentals, competitive habits, and goals. From there they build an individual plan that is revisited during periodic review blocks. Families receive guidance on tournament calendars and college planning, including video packages for recruiting and honest feedback about readiness for different divisions.

High Performance After School

This afternoon program serves competitive players roughly ages nine to eighteen who need structured drilling and point play after class. It mirrors the methodology of the full time group, scaled to the time window. Players work on patterns that express their game identity, with a focus on serve-return starts, neutral building, and transition skills. Fitness work is blended in a way that supports tournament weekends rather than leaving players flat.

Week to Week Training

Players preparing for a specific tournament swing or exploring a longer commitment can train week to week. Rather than creating a separate visiting group, the academy places short stay players into the full time blocks. That keeps the hitting standard high and lets new players experience the real pace, intensity, and communication style of the program.

High Performance Summer

Summer weeks run with half day and full day options, integrated with the full time group to preserve quality. A typical full day includes morning individualized drilling and situational points, mid day recovery, afternoon match play, and a strength and conditioning block. Private lessons can be layered on top when appropriate. Recent seasons have listed half day and full day rates that place the program in the upper tier of Florida summer training, and families should confirm current pricing and availability early, especially for peak weeks.

Holiday intensives and clay court prep

The academy offers targeted holiday weeks that fold visiting athletes into core training blocks. Before USTA National Clay Courts, the staff run surface specific sessions that emphasize movement, defensive skills, and patient point construction. These seasonal programs are tuned to the calendar and often publish details close to the event window.

Housing and logistics

For longer stays the academy coordinates vetted host families. For shorter visits it can suggest hotel partners close to the campus. Because the site is not a boarding school, families should plan for local transportation, meals, and study time. The staff provide guidance on schedules that protect schoolwork while hitting the training volumes required for improvement.

Player development approach

A consistent development framework guides daily work. The staff make it visible, measurable, and repeatable.

Technical: strokes that hold up

Coaches build grips, swing shapes, and contact points that perform under match stress. On clay, players learn to create height, shape, and margin. On hard, they refine line drive control, depth, and first strike speed. Video anchors the process so feel matches reality. The staff use before and after clips to minimize unproductive tinkering and to confirm that small changes are landing.

Tactical: identity first, patterns second

Athletes identify their A-game and the match conditions that allow it to show up. From there they train the patterns that express that identity. Serve-plus-one choices, neutral rally tolerance, and transition patterns to finish at net are drilled through situational points. Coaches emphasize decision quality as much as the outcome of any ball. Players learn to recognize score-based triggers, wind and sun adjustments, and opponent tendencies.

Physical: movement and resilience

Strength, mobility, and speed training are sequenced around on-court loads. Sessions develop multidirectional acceleration, efficient deceleration, and repeat sprint ability. The climate becomes an asset. Hydration, cooling strategies, and recovery are taught explicitly, with the pool and mobility work built into the week. The goal is to improve tennis fitness in parallel with hitting volume rather than as an afterthought.

Mental: attention, accountability, optimism

The Saviano Method formalizes attention control, routines between points, and resilient optimism in pressure moments. Players track goals and reflect on training quality, not only match results. The staff talk about effort, body language, and response after mistakes. Over time that approach builds a culture where progress comes from better decisions and better habits.

Education: protecting school and sport

Families can choose from partner schools or individualized academic plans. The staff help protect study windows and coordinate transportation when available. The theme is balance with intent. Athletes know when schoolwork happens and when training happens, which reduces stress and helps them show up sharp for both.

Alumni and success stories

Saviano’s track record in player development is a major draw. He has coached more than fifty players who reached professional tennis, and the academy reports a strong college placement record for its students. Publicly known examples include United States Open champion Sloane Stephens and Grand Slam finalist Eugenie Bouchard, with additional work at different stages of development for other well known names from South Florida. For families evaluating pathways, the important takeaway is that the environment has fed both elite college programs and the professional tour, and that the founder remains hands on in that process.

Culture and community life

Because the program runs inside a community center, the culture feels grounded and purposeful. A typical day might start with small group drilling, followed by a lunch break with teammates in common areas, then afternoon match play and a performance session indoors or on the turf. Parents can observe, but athletes are expected to own hydration, nutrition, and post session recovery. The staff keep communication lines open and work with families to align on goals and tournament calendars well in advance.

For visiting players in host housing, the rhythm is streamlined. Morning pickup, training, recovery, study, and an early night become the norm. The consistency helps athletes adapt quickly and get the most from a short stay.

Costs, accessibility, and scholarships

Weekly summer pricing is published and transparent, while full time, after school, and seasonal blocks are quoted directly based on assessment and schedule. Because there is no on site dormitory, families planning long stays should account for host housing or hotel costs and local transportation. The staff can provide introductions to trusted host families and guidance on airport transfers when needed.

The academy does not publish a formal scholarship policy. Families should ask about financial aid or merit considerations during the inquiry process, especially for long term commitments. The campus setting also allows families to plan supplemental fitness or pool access through the community center when appropriate.

What sets Saviano apart

• Founder involvement. Many academies carry a famous name. At Saviano, the founder is regularly on court shaping sessions and mentoring staff.
• Integrated campus. Training alongside an indoor track, full fitness center, racquetball, pool, and turf creates a daily loop that looks and feels like college athletics.
• Small ratios and video feedback. A four to one court ratio and consistent filming raise the signal to noise level in practice. Players leave with specific cues and clear priorities.
• Clay and hard in one place. Athletes learn to translate patterns between surfaces, with lighting that supports early starts and extended match play.
• Placement and pathway support. The program reports excellent college placement and a broad coaching network to help juniors who choose the college route.
• Location within a tennis hotbed. Proximity to tournaments and other Florida training hubs, including the USTA National Campus and Evert Tennis Academy, expands competitive options without diluting the academy’s tight practice culture. Families wanting periodic exposure to a larger environment can also plan visits to IMG Academy Tennis while keeping Davie as a home base.

Future outlook and vision

The academy’s model is intentionally lean. The priority is individualized planning, direct founder input, and staff growth rather than mass scale. Expect continued investment in performance training, structured match play, and modern tools for video tagging and progress tracking. The location and partner campus provide room to evolve without changing what defines the place: clear teaching, small groups, and honest feedback.

Saviano speaks often about developing people as much as players. That shows up in how the staff talk to athletes, the way they frame goals, and the emphasis on decision making rather than only outcomes. As college and professional tennis continue to demand smarter scheduling and better life skills, this emphasis should age well.

Is it for you?

Choose Saviano High Performance Tennis if you want founder-led coaching with a clear philosophy, small ratios, and a training day that ties courts, gym, pool, and recovery together. It suits tournament-active juniors targeting Division I and high academic programs, and it also fits aspiring professionals who value direct feedback from a consistent voice on court. If you need on site dorms, a big social scene with hundreds of peers, or year-round red clay, you will find a better match elsewhere.

For families who value precision, structure, and a proven pathway into college and beyond, this South Florida base aligns with those goals. The combination of a hands on founder, a stable staff, and a practical campus creates a training environment where effort is visible, progress is measured, and confidence is earned.